The Truth Hurts
by hopeforspoby
Summary: Spencer has been acting different lately and the girls are worried about her. In the night of the country dance, Hanna finds out a secret of Spencer's while Aria tries to save her from their worst enemy, failing miserably. This is a spoby story with some haleb and paily. Starts after 4X11 and has a different ending to the episode. It's very interesting and worth reading.
1. Chapter 1

Aria's POV

I got to the school and immediately spotted Caleb. Jake and I walked to him as he sat next to the desk with food and drinks.

"Hi, Caleb." I greeted him and he smiled in return. He and Jake shook hands and I took some time to look for Hanna. "Where's Hanna?" I asked him and he motioned to the middle of the crowd, where Hanna was dancing with some guy I didn't know. What the hell was she doing?

"She said that it was a bet with your brother." Caleb replied and he looked at me as if expecting me to deny his words. I wanted to say that I had no idea what was going on, but, as good friend, I lied to him.

"Yeah, Mike is so immature." It wasn't a lie at all. Mike IS very immature, but I had seen him grow up these past days and become a real man, not just a little boy. He was even acting like an older brother, even though he was two years younger than me. I sighed and looked back at Hanna and the boy. She'd have a lot to explain later. Caleb and Jake started talking about guy things and I decided to look for the other girls. Soon I spotted Emily and Toby getting in, but Spencer wasn't with them. Where the hell was Spencer? She was supposed to come with Toby, since he was her boyfriend. I have noticed that she has been acting really strange over the past weeks and I've been really worried about her.

The other night, she was sitting on her couch and I went to visit her. As soon as she heard the door opening, she jumped from the couch and grabbed a knife from the desk in front of it. She looked around with a scared look on her face and I opened the door carefully. As soon as she saw it was only me, she let go of the knife and hugged me. I hugged her back and since then I couldn't stop thinking that something was terribly wrong. At school, she has been much quieter than usual and I noticed she hasn't been eating right. She is a lot thinner and pale. Every time me or the girls ask her what is wrong, she simply say that she's fine and ignores us completely. I think that Toby has noticed this also, but he never says anything, at least I never hear him saying anything because we're not that close.

I shake these thoughts and walk to Emily and Toby, who smile at me and greet me with hugs. When I hug Toby, it feels awkward, but I like it. Spencer is my best friend and since he is her boyfriend, he cares about her as much as I do.

"Where's Spencer?" I ask them and they exchange worried glances, but don't say anything.

"She's probably coming late." Emily murmurs and she spots someone and her eyes lighten up. "Excuse me, I need to talk to Paige." She leaves just me and Toby, and we stay in an awkward silence for a few minutes, before he leaves saying that he'll get something to drink. As soon as he's gone, my phone beeps and I sigh before getting it.

"Wanna know what's wrong with Spencer? Meet me at the lake and you'll find out. Bring someone and you'll never see her again. Kisses –A

I gasp as I read the message. –A has Spencer, -A has taken her away from us. I start hyperventilating, but try to control my breathing and it soon goes back to normal. I need to be strong, for Spencer. I put my phone back in my pocket and look around. No one is looking at me, so no one notices when I leave the room and enter my car. At least that's what I thought. If I had been more careful, I'd be able to see the small figure clad in a red coat that watched me with mysterious blue eyes. But I don't notice her, just as I don't notice Jake looking for me with panic in his eyes. My mind is only focused in Spencer right now and the thought of what's happening to her crosses my mind and I feel all the color drain from my face. I drive as fast as I can to the lake, hoping that she'll still be alive when I get there.

Toby's POV

As soon as I get to the school with Emily, a feeling of uncertain washes over me. I don't know why, but I suddenly feel like something's terribly wrong. I just ignore it because it has happened many times. Ever since the first time that me and Spencer went to Radley searching for information about my mom I've noticed the changes in her. I've been extremely worried, but I decided to let it go because it might be just all the pressure. I had no idea how wrong I was. If I had tried at least a bit to understand what was really happening to her, I would have known the horrible secret she has been keeping. I could've helped her, but I didn't. Just because I'm an assole, so concentrated on my dead mother that I almost had a dead girlfriend.

I notice Aria coming over to us with worry on her face and I wonder if she's also worrying about Spencer. We have never been close, but I know that she is Spencer's best friend, out of the four girls. We greet her with hugs and it feels awkward but nice. Emily soon leaves to find Paige and I feel the tension in the air as soon as she's gone. Aria and I have never had a conversation before and we don't know what to say. As minutes passes, the awkwardness is unbearable so I say that I have to get something to drink and leave her alone. I don't look back as I walk to the drinks table and this is one of the worst mistakes I ever made. If I had looked back, I would have seen Aria get a message and her eyes go wide. I would have seen her getting in her car and driving away from the party, away from Rosewood and into the danger. I could have helped her, just like I could have helped Spencer, but I didn't. Because I'm stupid.

Hanna's POV

As I was dancing with Travis I noticed Aria coming to where Caleb was standing. Shit, I thought, she may tell him that there is no bet and I'll have to explain everything. I try to ignore the bad thoughts and go back to talking to Travis.

"I was there that night."

"The night Wilden was killed?" I asked him, surprise filling my voice as well as excitement.

"Yes. I was just driving when I heard someone screaming, so I decided to check who it was."

"And who was it? Was it my mother?" I asked him, relief washing over me as I thought that I might find out who really killed Wilden.

"No, it was a girl. She's around our age. She was talking to Wilden and she screamed.

"Was she blond?" I asked, hoping that he'd say yes. I was so close to finding out who killed Wilden and get my mother free.

"No, she had brown hair. She was wearing a golden dress and… that's all I remember." He says.

"Who could that be?''

"I don't know. But she wasn't the one that killed Wilden. They just discussed and he tried to suffocate her. I couldn't just let him kill her, so I went there and punched him in the face. He fell to the ground and I helped the girl, I don't know what her name was, get up and took her to the nearest hospital. I kept glancing at her from the drivers sit and she looked pretty sad. When we got to the hospital, I went in there for a minute to get help and when I came back she was gone. The only thing I have is this." He held a familiar necklace with the shape of a heart and gave it to me. I examined it for a while, but couldn't tell whose it was.

"Why didn't you tell this to the police?" I asked him as I put the necklace on my purse.

"Because it would have looked like I killed him." I gave him a look and he kept talking. "Look, my dad and Wilden never liked each other and I had no proof that I was helping that girl, I don't even know who she is."

"So you're gonna stay quiet, which may destroy my family." I stated and he gave me a sorry look. If only I knew who that girl was, I would be able to get out of this mess. Travis let go of me and he left me alone in the middle of the crowd. How much of a gentleman, I thought as I went to where Caleb and Jake were talking.

**So this just came to my mind while I was doing my geography essay. It isn't my best work, but I hope you like it. This will be a short story that starts at 4X11 and will be probably around five or six chapters. Maybe more. Read and REVIEW, please! Who do you think is the girl that Wilden tried to kill? Five reviews and I post the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here is the second chapter of The Truth Hurts. Thank you for the reviews. And congratulations to FabsirellaPrincessOfPopcornia for finding out one of the important points from last chapter.**

Hanna's POV

"Yeah, I think that I could do that." Jake was saying when I interrupted him.

"Sorry to interrupt you two, but I need to speak with Caleb." I said and they both nodded as I grabbed Caleb's arms and took him to the girl's bathroom.

"What the hell, Hanna?" He asked as we entered the bathroom. Luckily, there was no one in there.

"Stay here and lock the door. I'll come back in a minute." I said and didn't give him time to reply as I was already out. I searched through the crowd and soon found Emily and Paige talking. I asked them to follow me and then we found Toby and he came with us. They kept asking me what the hell was going on but I didn't say anything, just kept looking for Aria and Spencer. When I couldn't find them anywhere, I decided to tell them later. We went to the bathroom and the door was locked.

"Caleb, it's me, open the door." Caleb opened the door and we got in. As soon as we entered the bathroom, I locked the door again and closed the windows.

"Okay, what is going on, Han?" Emily was the first to speak. I look at each of them and finally answer.

"I needed to talk to you alone."

"About what?" Caleb asks.

"Did you see the guy I was dancing with." I reply and he frowns.

"It was hard not to see." I ignore the hurt look on his face as I need to focus on finding out who is that girl.

"Well, he said that he knew my mother wasn't guilty of killing Wilden and he said that he was there that night."

"Wait, so you're saying that some random guy might be the key to prove your mom's innocence?" Emily asks and I nod.

"Do did he see who actually killed Wilden?" Paige asked.

"No, but he said that there was a girl talking to him that night."

"Red coat?" Emily asked and excitement filled her face.

"That's the thing. She wasn't wearing a red coat and her hair was brown, not blond."

"That's weird. But who was it?" Paige asked.

"He doesn't know. He saved her from Wilden, but she never said her name. He only got this." I showed them the necklace and suddenly Toby, who had been quiet this whole time, decided to say something.

"This is impossible." He said and we looked at him. His face was pale.

"What's impossible?" Emily asked and he didn't answer. Instead, he grabbed the necklace and opened the heart that was in the middle. We could clearly see a photo of him and Spencer smiling to the camera. What the hell was going on?

"I gave this to Spencer on our one year anniversary. I thought that she had gotten rid of it." My mind started racing and my palms started sweating. Was this real? Was Spencer the girl that Wilden tried to kill? We needed to ask her that.

"Where is she?" I asked no one in particular, but my eyes drifted to Toby.

"I have no idea." He replied. "She was supposed to meet me and Em at the Brew, but she didn't appear. We thought that she had come here first."

"We need to find her." I said and unlocked the door. We got out of the bathroom and started looking around the school for Spencer. We called her a few times, but it always went to voicemail. When we were trying to get into the library, Emily's phone started buzzing. She picked it up and we watched as she answered the call.

"Hey, ar." She said and we knew it was Aria. I hadn't seen her since she talked to Caleb, but I guess that I just forgot about her. I hoped that she was okay. Emily's face suddenly turned from worried to panicked. She pressed a button on her phone and we all heard Aria's desesperate voice.

"Why did you do this? What did we ever do to you?"

"You weren't supposed to find out." A voice said and I soon recognized it as Ezra. My eyes went wide as I tried to understand what was going on. Suddenly, there was a scream and we heard shooting.

"OMG!" I screamed as well as Emily.

"We need to find her." Emily said.

"Yes, but how? We don't even know where she is?"

"Give me her phone, I can track where she is rapidly." Caleb said and he spent the next five minutes searching through Emily's phone until his face lightened up.

"She's in the lake, the same one where Wilden was killed." We exchanged panicked looks, but soon we got into Caleb's car and drove as fast as we could to the lake. We could only hope that Aria was okay or that she wasn't the one who received the shot. I cried desesperate in Caleb's chest as Toby drove us to the lake.

Aria's POV

I got to the lake thirty minutes later. It was pretty dark and I was freezing on my simple white blouse that didn't warm me. I looked for sights that someone was here, but there was nothing.

"Spencer?" I screamed, worried about her. When I got no answer, I started panicking. I looked around the lake and spotted some lights, so I decided to go there. I knew that I was being very stupid right now, but I needed to save Spencer. I couldn't lose her. As I got closer to the lights I could see a tall figure standing there in front of a big wooden box. This person wasn't Spencer. It was someone I knew very well, someone that I once trusted. It was Ezra Fitz. He turned around when he heard my steps and there was no expression on his face. I tried to think of reasons of why he'd be here, hoping that what I thought wasn't true. But when I saw the knife he was holding that contained blood, I knew that I was right. Ezra Fitz was –A. I wondered whose blood was that. I hoped that it wasn't Spencer's, but I doubted it.

"Aria, Aria, Aria." He said and started walking towards me. I stepped back, but I knew that soon he'd get me. I looked back to the wooden box and understood. Spencer was in there. Ezra had killed her and he had called me to come here so he could kill me too. I couldn't believe that he'd do that to me, to us, but the evidence was in front of me. I didn't have a plan, I had no way to escape. But then something came into my mind. I decided to give it a try.

"Ezra, you're scaring me."

"That's the objective. You should have learned not to come alone, Aria." He was nearing me now and I felt trapped. My breathing was really quick and I could feel my palms sweating. I was scared. No, scratch that, terrified. My hands touched my pocket and I felt relief wash over me. I could call the girls and let them know what was going on. Maybe they could save me. Maybe they could save Spencer too, if she wasn't dead yet. I put my hands in my pocket and somehow managed to hit the button to call Emily. I saw her name on the screen and she soon answered the call.

"Why did you do this? What did we ever do to you?"I asked Ezra and I felt the tears starting to fall. He didn't seem to notice that I had called Emily for he answered my question.

"You weren't supposed to find out."He had gotten a hold on me by now. His strong arm pulled me closer to him before pushing me. I fell to the ground and hit my head hard. Then Ezra pulled something out of his pocket. A gun. Why did he pull a gun if he had the knife? I didn't have time to think about it as he pointed the gun at my head and I closed my eyes, ready for the pain. When I did not felt it, I opened them again. There, lying in front of me, covered in blood, was Spencer Hastings. My best friend, the one I had come to rescue.

"Nooooooo!" I screamed and moved her so she was facing me. Her eyes were still open, but they seemed as if they would close at any instant.

"Aria." She said weakly and coughed. Her white shirt was covered in blood and so was her right leg.

"No, Spencer, don't do this to me. Please, be strong." I whispered, not noticing that I was crying like a baby. I felt her cold hand wipe away some of my tears before her eyes closed. I screamed again, but it was no use. She was dead. Spencer was dead and it was my fault. I was supposed to take the bullet, I was supposed to be the one lying on the cold hard ground. In my time of despair, I didn't notice Ezra, who was still standing in front of me. I didn't notice that he had also screamed when Spencer got the bullet.

"That bitch!" He screamed. "She ruined my plan." He said and I wondered who he was talking about when his eyes darted towards Spencer then me.

"If you tell anyone about this, I promise that you'll be just like her." He simply said and gave me a threatening look before running away. I felt relieved that he wasn't here anymore, but at the same time afraid, for Spencer. She couldn't just die, not now of all times. I turned back to her and she was still lying on the ground, looking as if she was sleeping peacefully. I knew that she wasn't.

"Come on, Spence." I sad and I started compressing her heart so her blood (at least the blood she had left) could flow through her veins and give her at least some oxygen. I tried that many times and, finally, she started breathing, heavily but breathing. I sighed in relief and kissed her forehead while I kept trying my best to make her stay alive. Many minutes later, I heard the faint sound of a car and soon Hanna, Caleb, Emily, Paige and Toby started calling my name through the lake.

"I'm here." I screamed as loud as I could and they came to me minutes later.

"OMG!" Hanna screamed when she saw me and Spencer. She kneeled down next to me and looked me in the eyes.

'Aria, are you okay?" Emily asked as she and the others gathered around me and Spencer.

"I'm not the one you should be worrying about." I replied, too tired to say anything. Their eyes widened when they noticed Spencer and Toby kneeled down next to her and took her cold hand in his.

"No, please, no." He murmured and I saw the tears starting to fall from his eyes.

"I'm sorry." I said, also crying.

"We need to get out of here." Emily said, always the first one to calm down. We nodded and Toby picked Spencer up and carried her to the car. Hanna and Emily helped me walk to the car as I had not much energy to walk by myself. We drove to the hospital as quick as we could, but it wasn't enough. All I could think about was how the man that I once gave my virginity and thought that loved me had almost killed my best friend and tried to kill me. Now I knew how Spencer felt when she found out that Toby was a part of the –A team, but the difference was that Ezra was actually on the team and he hated us, while Toby had just been trying to protect Spencer.

**What did you think? Too sad? Were you surprised that Spencer was the girl that Wilden tried to kill? What about Ezra being –A? Who do you think is red coat? Tell me what you think. Next chapter comes when I get six or seven more reviews. Please guys, next chapter is really crazy and has some answers for you. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Guys, i'm so sorry about the wait. I was like, i'm gonna post this on sunday because they gave me such great reviews but i ended up spending all day on sunday in places where there wasn't wi fi, so I couldn't update. I hope that this chapter makes up for the wait, it's kind of crazy, as I said last chapter and I hope you like it. It has a big explanation about what happened the night that Wilden was killed, so pay attention to that. Have a good reading and REVIEW!**

Toby's POV

It took us too long (in my opinion) to get to the hospital. I couldn't stop looking at Spencer, making sure that she was still alive and breathing. Even though she was covered in blood and as pale as a corpse, she was still the most beautiful girl that I had ever seen. Ever since we started dating, I had stopped looking at other girls and thinking that they were pretty, because I only had eyes for Spencer. I couldn't even think about losing her, I bet that I would be a much worse person if she died. Before I met her, I lived in a world of darkness, always crying about my mother's death and with no one by my side. But then she came and she became the light, the only good thing in my life. Of course that I had some friends now, but she would always be the most important thing in my life. I feel so ashamed that I wasn't there for her in her times of need, mainly tonight. I have noticed the changes in her over the past weeks, but I was too concentrated to find out what happened to my mother to care. I looked at the girls. They looked as lost I me, but I knew that I was more. They may have lost another best friend, but I have lost the love of my life.

We finally get to the hospital and Caleb opens the door to the driver's seat and we follow him through the hospital. We ask for help and a nurse takes Spencer from my arms and leads her to a hospital room. Aria is also taken because she hit her head hard, but she is not much a worry. She won't die in the next twenty-four hours, but Spencer might. No, I need to have hope. That's the only thing she'd ask me to do, never give up.

We spend the next three hours sitting in that cold, hard, black chairs trying not to think of what might happen. Hanna leans into Caleb's shoulder and Emily and Paige hug each other, as if protecting each other from the dangers of this world. Jake comes by after a worried and teared-up call from Hanna and he sits idly by my side. I called Spencer's parents a long time ago, but they never answered. I bet that they are too busy worrying about work to at least think about their youngest daughter. I don't hate them, but I don't like them either. Parents are supposed to take care of their children, not leave them to face life's challenges on their own. Spencer may not have her parents, but she'll always have me, I'll never leave her side. Now that she was almost killed, AGAIN, I'll never leave her out of my sight.

Only if she survives, a voice in the back of my head says. I ignore it, but I can't stop thinking about this option. If she dies, I'll have to try to keep living because I know that she wouldn't want me crying over her death and completely giving up. But I'll have to give up anyways. I'll have to give up on the life that we had planned together, when all of this was over. If she's gone, we'll never marry and have children, we'll never get older together. I am snapped from my thoughts by the side of someone I wasn't expecting to see. The person walks towards me and I immediately stand up.

Spencer's POV

_I was walking around the lake and he was following me. He was always following me. Ever since he found out my secret, he has been trying to find excuses to hurt me. My friends notice how I have changed, but they think that it's because Toby and I broke up. That's one of the reasons, but not the worst. They don't know about that night and the events that followed it. I still have nightmares, but there's nothing that I can do. I am no longer Spencer Hastings, a tough and strong woman. Now I'm just Spencer, a girl that has been through hell and has become weak and scared. I know that I won't be able to hide this secret for much longer, but I want to keep it a secret, for now. I wish that he didn't know, but he found out some way. He is –A, after all. Darren Wilden is –A. I have known that for a month now and each day I get more and more scared of what he'll do to me and my friends. I kept quiet because I know that he isn't alone and he has already killed many people. I would have never thought that he would be –A, just like I never thought that Toby would be –A. _

_ I tried to run away from him, but he got me and pushed me to the ground. I felt his strong hands wrap around my neck and my breaths getting slower and slower. I'm dying, I know it. I can feel everything turning black as the darkness engulfs me and my free hands try to grab him and push him away from me, failing miserably. He is going to kill me, but I still don't give up. I try to push him back, but I'm too weak. Suddenly, I feel him being taken off me and the air finally fills my lungs. I can see my savior, but he is no one that I know. He punches Wilden in the face and walks towards me when he sees that Wilden is unconscious._

_"Come on, I'll take you somewhere safe." I have already heard that last night, but I follow him to his car anyways. I think about Toby and what he is doing right now. He is probably planning tonight and a way to find out who is red coat. I wish that I could tell him who she is, but I can't. I promised her that I wouldn't tell anyone because it isn't safe. _

_The guy-I don't know who he is-suddenly stops his car in front of a hospital and I see that as my chance to escape. As he enters the hospital in look for help, I open the car door and run as fast as I can. I only stop when I get to a town near Rosewood, where Toby's motel is. I go to his room and am happy to find him there sitting in his bed. He looks up when he sees me and smiles, but suddenly his figure disappear and Wilden replaces his gorgeous face. I try to scream, but no sounds come from my mouth. He grabs my neck again and this time no one comes to rescue me. I fall down limply on the ground and the last thing I hear is someone saying "I'm sorry." Then, everything is dark._

I wake up from this terribly nightmare/flashback and I hear voices talking around me. I don't recognize them and I start wondering where the hell I am. I try to open my eyes, but it is and impossible thing to do right now. I decide to keep them closed and concentrate in the place around me. As soon as I feel myself moving a little, a big amount of pain exploded from my abdomen and I scream.

"She's woken up." Someone says, a man.

"Are you sure? Her eyes are still closed."

"I don't know. But we need to make her go back to sleep or she'll feel a lot of pain." I feel someone moving and a needle is injected into my arm. It doesn't hurt, but I have always hated needles, so I flinch. I feel the morphine circulating around my body and soon I fall asleep again. I escaped from one nightmare only to get into another.

_This time I'm not around the lake, I'm in my house. I'm wearing the same clothes from that night and I understand what's happening. I hear the door to my room opening and he's there. Wilden. The person I hate the most and that hates me the most. He smiles at me and I try to look for a way to escape, but there is no way. I'm stuck here with him. He walks closer and I close my eyes, not wanting to see it again.I have suffered for more than two months because of that night and because of him. Even when he died, I was extra-careful, fearing that he might come back._

_When I open my eyes again, I am lying on a sleeping bag on my barn. It is pretty dark and I can see Hanna, Aria and Emily asleep near me. They are wearing the same clothes from the night Ali died and I notice the empty glasses of some alcoholic drink that we drank that night. I stand up and leave the barn to look for Ali. Maybe she is here, maybe I can stop her from dying. I hear a scream and I start running really fast, not having a location in mind. I look all around my house, but there is no sign of anyone. I decide to just give up and go back to the barn. When I open the door, Aria is awake as well as Hanna and Emily._

_"Where's Ali?" She asks me, just like she did that night._

_"I don't know. I couldn't find her anywhere." I replied as honestly as I could and I saw Hanna and Emily look at me worriedly. I got into the barn and the door closed behind me. _

_"I need to get some sleep now." I said and I lay down on my sleeping back and I heard the other girls going to bed as well. I woke up again and it was still dark. Hanna, Aria and Emily were nowhere in sight and instead Ali was sitting in front of me taking a sip of something that looked like champagne. She looked up when she heard me moving and smiled at me. What the hell was she doing here? Wasn't she supposed to be dead?_

_"Hey, Spence. Good morning." She said and I eyed her suspiciously. Something didn't feel right._

_"What are you doing?"_

_"I'm just sitting."_

_"No, I meant, weren't you supposed to be dead by now?"_

_"I am."_

_"How? You are sitting in front of me." I asked her, confused._

_"This is just a dream, sweetie. I'm not real, just like they aren't." She said and I looked around, trying to figure out who were they. She pointed to the window and I opened the curtains a little. I could see Ian, garret and Wilden sitting in the middle of the garden holding glasses with beer (I think) and seeming to celebrate something. Ok, now this was getting kind of crazy. Why were they here?_

_"What's going on?" I asked Ali as another figure came, wearing emerald dress and golden high heels. It was Maya, Emily's ex-girlfriend. Why was she here?_

_"You are dreaming with all the people that are gone. You're a very good person, Spence, and I know that you hate seeing all of these people dying. I wish we hadn't died too, but we can't change the past. You need to focus on your future right now. You need to focus on leaving. I never wanted you to die." As she said her last words, she got up and walked to the door. She opened it slowly and gave me a last look and smile._

_"Goodbye, Spence. Stay strong." Then she closed the door. I went to open it, expecting her to be there. I looked in horror as I noticed that I was back to the lake._

_"Nooo!" I screamed and a figure covered in black appeared. I expected it to be Wilden, but it wasn't. It was Ezra, Ezra Fitz. And he was smiling while he held a knife covered in blood. I was sooo screwed. _

Ezra's POV

I watched as the other bitches came and took Aria and Spencer away. I didn't want to just stay hidden and let them go, but it were the boss's orders. At least she thought that she was my boss, she didn't know that I was just using her to get what I wanted. I hoped that Spencer would survive, which may sound estrange since I was the one that shot her. The point is, I was planning on shooting Aria and she took advantage of that top jump in front of Aria and ruin my whole plan. She was the only way I had to know where red coat was and if she died, I'd have to rely on the boss to find red coat and the boss wanted red coat dead, while I wanted to have a talk to her.

When the bitches were gone, I got out of my hiding spot and grabbed the wooden box that was still there, I don't know why they didn't look at it, and took it to my car with much effort. When it was kept safety on my trunk, I called the box and told her what happened. She screamed at me, but I ignored her completely. If she kept being so irritating I'd have to kill her and I had power to do that. She thought that just because she was my boss she could control me, but she couldn't. I followed her instructions and met her at the lair not even twenty minutes later. She was tapping her foot when I got there and I noticed that the other members of the –A team were there also.

"You're late." She said and I could feel the disappointment in her voice.

"I'm sorry, I had some trouble to complete my task."

"You mean trying to complete your task." She said and some members laughed at her harsh words. She silenced them with a threatening look. "But that's not important. What's important is that Spencer Hastings might be dead and this is a victory to us." She said and everyone cheered. I cheered with them, but I didn't feel that cheerful inside. Even thought my goal was to kill those bitches, Spencer was someone that I needed, even if I never admitted it. The rest of the meeting passed by slowly as the boss made more plans to torture the girls and I went back to my apartment. It was time to go back to pretending to be the sexy, innocent English teacher that all senior girls liked. Well, almost all of them.

**What did you think? Was it too confusing? Too crazy? Can someone guess who the person at the hospital is? Since that one is difficult, I'll give you a hint: It's not a member of the –A team or suspect of being on the –A team. And who is red coat? I guess this one is quite easy. What about Ezra's boss, who is she? You have all of this to think about, so can I say about eight reviews? And what are you thinking about this story so far?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here is a new chapter for you. This one is honestly my favorite because it has some good cute spoby romance. I hope that you like their scene. Also, there are a few hints about something that happened to Spencer and if you guess what it is, tell me. It's not that hard. No one guesses correctly who showed up at the hospital and I was expecting that because I always come with the craziest and most unimaginable theories. Anyways, enough of rambling, on with the chapter.**

Toby's POV

"Mrs. DiLaurentis? What are you doing here?" Hanna asked and the rest of us just stared, confused.

"I had an appointment tonight and I saw you, so I decided to say hi. What are you doing here?"

"Spencer is hurt." I replied, the tears threatening to fall.

"OMG!" Mrs. D said and she placed a palm over her heart."Is she gonna be okay?"

"We don't know." Emily answered. "She just went to surgery."

"Okay. Well, I'll go to my doctor's appointment now but I will come back here later to see how she's doing. The poor girl has been through enough." Then she was gone and we were back to silence. Even thought I wasn't much of a talkative person, I hated this silence. Luckily, Emily decided to break it.

"Since we're probably gonna be here for a long time, I think that you owe us an explanation." She turned to Aria, who was back after having her head healed. Her face was still a sick pale and her eyes were red from crying. It was nice to see someone else suffering like I was, as perverse as it sounds.

"I don't know what happened. All I know is that I got a text from –A saying to go to the lake or Spencer would get hurt. When I got there, she was nowhere in sight, but he was standing there holding a knife covered in blood." She started crying over the last sentence and Jake pulled her closer and tried to comfort her. There was no need for her to identify who "he" was, we knew that it was Ezra. As Jake comforted her, I felt conflicted. For one side, I was happy that Spencer's friends had found someone who loved and cared for them and that Jake, even without understanding what was going on, was helping Aria instead of questioning her. For the other side, I felt jealous of all of them. I was sitting here alone while they comforted each other since my rock, the only one who could comfort me, was lying in a hospital bed, all because of me. I would never forgive myself if she died, but I still had at least a glimpse of hope.

Another hour passed and Caleb and Jake decided to grab something to eat, since it seemed like we would stay here for a long time. The girls had called their parents and told them what was going on, at least part of it. From what I've heard, Aria's mother was coming here as soon as she finished her last class, which would be in less than twenty minutes. Spencer had told me how close she was to Aria's mom, to the point of considering her her second mom.

The crying session had stopped and we were back to silence. This time, I was glad for it because I knew that if I tried to talk, I'd only be able to cry. It had been four hours. Four hours and nothing. I knew that it was a bad sign, but I hoped it wasn't. I wondered if all surgeries take that long. From what Caleb told me, he only took two hours in surgery, which didn't reduce my worry.

I sighed as him and Jake entered the waiting room holding cups of coffee and bagels. I was starving, but I had no intention on eating. It was like there was a hole in my stomach and I thought that I'd throw up if I ate anything. They gave each girl a cup of coffee and a bagel and tried to give me some too, but I refused. As they ate, I tried to concentrate on Spencer, how beautiful she is, how much I love her. My mind had other plans as the image of her lying on the ground covered in blood and being held by a teared-up Aria was the only thing that I could see. I had almost lost my last glimpse of hope when a doctor came in and asked for Spencer Hastings' family. I got up and he walked toward us.

"Are you her brother?" The doctor asked.

"No, I'm her boyfriend."

"I'm sorry, but I can only give information to her family."

"Her parents haven't answered their phones and her sister is in new York. Please, tell me how she's doing." I begged and he seemed to give in, as he looked down at his notes and then back at me.

"We have completed the surgery successfully, but her body is too weak from the amount of blood she lost. I can't assure you that she'll be truly and completely okay, only time can tell that. From what we've seen, she is very strong and she seems to be fighting to survive, so her chances of staying alive are high." I sighed in relief. Even thought he didn't say that Spencer was okay, he said that the chances of her staying alive are high, which makes me a lot less worried. I hear someone get up and put a comforting hand in my shoulder and I notice that it's Emily, my first crush and my best friend. I smile at her in appreciation and she smiles back. Her face is mirroring mine, tears in her eyes and a sad smile.

"When can we see her?" Aria asks and I look back at her. She is trembling and crying a lot. Jake is holding her, but she doesn't seem to notice that he is there. Her eyes have a lost expression and they don't show relief like everyone's. She's probably still feeling guilty that this happened to Spencer.

"Well, she hasn't woken up yet, but I think that it wouldn't harm her if one of you went to see her. " The doctor replied and Aria looked at me, as well as Emily. I knew that they wanted me to go and I wanted more than anything to see Spencer, but Aria seemed so fragile and sad right now that I decided to be a gentle man and let her see Spencer.

"I think that Aria should go." I reply to their glances and Emily and Hanna's mouths open in shock.

"Me?"Why?" Aria asks and her eyes are wide, but I can see the hope in them.

"You need this more than I do." I simply say and she seems to understand as she lets go of Jake's hand and walks with the doctor towards Spencer's bedroom. Emily still looks at me concerned, but I ignore her. Even though I wish that I was the one walking with the doctor and being finally able to see the love of my life, I have to stop thinking only about myself. For the past two months I have only thought about myself and I didn't even realize that I was hurting people. I didn't realize that something terrible was happening to Spencer, I was just so selfish and stupid. Tonight, when I saw her there, lying on the ground after been shot, I finally woke up to the real world and stopped thinking only about the past, which couldn't be changed. From now on, I'll try my best to make things right and I'm starting it by letting Spencer's best friend see her first. I can see her tomorrow and the other days, but right now aria is the one that needs to see her and have a confirmation that she truly is alive.

"Toby! Earth to Toby!" I hear someone saying and I turn around to look at Emily.

"What is it?"

"You completely spaced out. I asked you why did you let Aria go in? You're her boyfriend, you have the right to go."

"Trust me, she needed to see Spencer more than I did. I can see her tomorrow."

"Wow. When did you become such a gentleman?" Hanna asked, sarcastically.

"When I realized that I need to let go of the past and start worrying about the present." They nodded, knowing what I was talking about. Just as Emily was gonna say something, Mrs. DiLaurentis came out of nowhere and starting asking questions about Spencer. As the girls answered her questions, I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket and I quietly grabbed it to see a new message from, guess who. Yes, you guessed right, -A.

_Spencer was lucky this time, but the game isn't over yet. Tell her to stay in alert, because I'll be coming back sooner than you think. –A_

I angrily shoved my phone back in my jeans pocket and looked around. There was no one in sight, which meant that or –A wasn't here when they sent the message or they were hiding. I decided to go with option two, because I knew better than to be stupid and think that –A wasn't here, so there was no problem. Then something clicked in my mind. –A had said that they'd try to hurt Spencer again. Right now, she was lying in a hospital bed, vulnerable and incapable of defending herself. I let out a small gasp, fear filling my veins. Without another word, I went to Spencer's room ready to kill anyone who tried to hurt her.

Aria's POV

I was so glad that Toby let me see Spencer first, but I feel bad for him. He is her boyfriend, for god's sake! I know that he is the one that was supposed to be seeing her first, but I felt so guilty about what happened in the lake that I needed to see with my own eyes that Spencer is okay. She is my best friend and seeing her being shot, when I was the real target, is something that I'm sure I'll never be able to forget.

As I follow Dr?, I can feel the place getting colder and colder. When we finally reach Spencer's room, I'm freezing and my white shirt isn't helping. The doctor opens the door slowly and it makes a sound like in horror movies, which gives me goose bumps. I look at the room and as soon as my eyes land on the figure lying in the white bed, I wish that I hadn't looked. Her skin is a sickly pale, as white as a sheet of paper. Her breaths are slow and short and it seems like an almost impossible task for her to breathe. One of the million machines connected to her shows her heartbeats, which are a little faster than her breaths, but still slower than any healthy person's heartbeats.

I gasp when I see her and the doctors looks at me comfortingly and he leaves the room. I stand there for a few minutes, frozen by the horrible sight. My legs feel like they are made of Jelly and my mouth feels dry. I suddenly start crying uncontrollably and unstoppably and I can no longer support my weigh. My fragile body falls to the ground and my arms wrap around my legs as I sit in the cold ground crying my eyes out. I can no longer think or hear anything and I almost jump when I hear a voice calling my name. The sound is weak, but still audible.

" ." I get up and try to compose myself as I look around the room, searching for the owner of the voice. What surprises me is that it is coming from my best friend, the girl that looked like a corpse not only ten minutes ago. Her eyes are slightly open and she seems to be trying to focus. I walk to the bed quickly and sit on the chair near it. She keeps calling my name and I grab her cold hand and hold it tightly. I feel like she is going to suddenly disappear if I let go of her hand.

"Shhhh. I'm here, Spence. I'm here." I say softly and her mouth curls into a smile and her eyes open a little bit more. She looks at me and her beautiful blue eyes are shining with hope and life, something that I haven't seen for a long time. All I have seen in her eyes for the past two months is sadness and fear, which made me wonder who she was afraid of. I know that now, but it doesn't make me less confused. I can't think of why Wilden or Ezra would try to hurt her.

"I'm glad that you're here." She says quietly and I almost don't hear it. I smile at her and the tears start to fall again, this time happy tears. This is all I needed, to make sure that she is okay. We stay there gazing at each other for a few more moments before she lets out a scream. I look at her worriedly, not knowing what to do. When she stops screaming, she looks at me again and her smile has disappeared.

"It hurts." She says weakly and I nod.

"I'm going to get the doctor. I'll be back soon okay?" She nods her head in agreement and I leave the room, almost bumping into Toby, who is walking absently and doesn't even notice me.

"I'm sorry." I say and he looks into my eyes. I see the angriness and the fear in them and wonder what caused him to be like this. "Hey, is everything okay?" I asked and he doesn't move.

"Spencer. I need to… see her."

"Okay." I reply and keep walking down the halls, searching for a doctor. What I didn't know is that the only doctor that I would find wouldn't be much help.

Spencer's POV

I'm still confused after my nightmares/flashbacks and I have no idea what's going on. It's like my brain is incapable of thinking clearly and I can't see anything clearly either. I hear someone crying near me and I realize that it's Aria. What's Aria doing here? Why is she crying? Has someone else gotten hurt?

"Aria." I call her many times and she finally gets up, but instead of looking at me, she searches around the room. She probably thinks that I'm still asleep. I call her again and she finally looks at me. Through my blurry vision I see her walking towards the bed and I force a smile, which is hard. Any movement is painful and I feel so weak and fragile.

"Shhhh. I'm here, Spence. I'm here." She says and it gives me the strength I need to open my eyes fully at the same time it comforts me.

"I'm glad that you're here." I manage to say. She only nods and we stay in silent until a sudden pain hits my abdomen and I'm unable to control the scream that escapes my mouth. Aria looks at me worriedly and I hate seeing her like this, knowing that it's my fault. "It hurts." I murmur so quietly that I think that she can't hear me, but she nods her head and says she's gonna get a doctor. I nod slowly and close my eyes again, trying to concentrate in other thing rather than the pain. I hear the door closing and notice that I am completely alone, which scares me.

I have just overseen the two terrible nights that ruined my life. I haven't told anyone about what happened and it is almost a miracle, because I thought the girls would figure out what was wrong with me, but they didn't. I'm sure they'd never find out about mine and Wilden's history, but they could have known what was really different about me. They just had to look better. I'm glad they didn't, tough, because it would only make things worse. But that's a secret I'm going to take with me to my grave, no one will ever find out about what happened to me. No one will find out the real reason why I spent three months wearing coats that covered my whole stomach.

I hear a noise and my senses kick in. I paralyze, fear filling my veins and I suddenly can't breathe. Is it him? Is he here to punish me? I ask to myself, then I remember that he is actually dead and I don't have to worry about it. But there's still an –A team out there and they surely aren't satisfied that I'm not dead, if they know. I hear the door to my hospital room opening and I try to slow my heartbeats, which have increased in the last few minutes at an alarming rate. I hear a figure moving around the room and it stops right in front of the bed. His or her eyes burn into my soul and I feel even more terrified. The figure sits on the chair near the bed and takes my hand. It's hand is warm and it strangely feels comforting. Then I hear his voice and I know that everything's gonna be okay. I know that there's nothing I need to fear because he is with me and he is gonna protect me from the world.

"Spencer. Oh, Spencer. I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry that this happened to you. I know that I should have been there. I should have protected you, but I didn't. I'm sorry that I have been a jerk all this time, that I've been so selfish." He then started crying and I opened my eyes. I realized that it didn't hurt as much now as it did before. This was one of the many good effects Toby has on me. He can make me forget about all the bad things and now I had forgotten about the pain.

"Hey, please, don't cry." I say as I caress his cheek, praying that he'll stop crying. If this is anyone's fault, it's mine. I was the one who decided to take the bullet and let herself get killed. Well, almost killed.

As soon as my hand touched his face, he stopped crying and his beautiful ocean eyes gazed into mine with so much love and passion. I smiled at him and he just stared at me, as if he didn't believe what was happening.

"Spencer? Are you… awake?"

"Yes. " I replied and his hand moved to touch my face softly. His eyes welled up with tears, but he didn't let them fall this time. I smiled at him and tried to sit up, so I could hug him. He understood what I was trying to do and pulled me down again, before carefully wrapping his arms around me. I hugged him back, sighing happily. God, how much I missed doing this.

We hadn't hugged like this since forever, because he was too busy trying to find out what happened to his mother while I was trying to cope with finding out that Ezra was –A. The way I found that out was unexpected. Wren, who I had suspected that was on the –A team for a long time, had told me that someone really close to one of us was –A, so I decided to check and one day I heard Ezra talking about us on the phone when he was alone in the classroom and I was just stopping by to ask him about my English homework. About a month and a half later, when I was with Toby and Caleb trying to figure out who was red coat (pretending actually, since I already knew), I got a message from –A telling me to meet them on the lake. When I got there, Ezra was wearing a hoddie and he promised not to kill me and my friends if I promised to tell him where red coat was. I didn't accept his offer and that was one of the reasons I'd been so afraid these past month.

"You scared me, Spence." Toby said with a weak voice and I went back to the real world.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to protect Aria." I said and he just nodded.

"I knew that there was something wrong. I could have done something." He sighed deeply, his face a mist of hurt and anger.

"There was nothing that you could have done." I say and he glares at me. " He was gonna kill me someday and I'd prefer to die in the place of someone I love than because I'm too weak to fight the enemy." His eyes widen and I realize what I had just said.

"Never say that again, okay? Nobody will ever hurt you while I'm here and I plan on being here for a long time."

"How long exactly, Mr. Cavanaugh?" I ask him playfully.

"As long as you want me to." He replies and I smile.

"Forever then." I say and we look at each other with love and passion. It's not long before our lips somehow meet and I smile into the kiss. It feels so good to be holding him again, kissing him again. When air becomes too much necessary we finally pull away, but, as always, we want more. We smiled widely at each other and I somehow manage to move, so Toby can lie in the bed with me. He pulls me carefully to his chest and wraps his arms around me, keeping me warm and safe. I lean against his chest and sigh happily. He kisses my hair and I close my eyes, savoring the moment.

Hours and minutes may have passed, but I don't have knowledge of the time. I feel Toby moving and I open my eyes to see him grabbing something from the bedside table, but he hides it before I can see what it is.

"Hey! What are you hiding from me?" I ask him and raise my eyebrows.

"It's something I have wanted to do since the year started." He says and I smile, trying to guess what it is. My guesses couldn't have been more wrong. He picks up a blue velvet box and gives it to me. I eye the box suspiciously.

"What is in here?" I ask him and he just smiles.

"Open it." I open it slowly and a small gasp escapes my lips. Inside the box there is the most beautiful ring that I had ever seen. It is silver and has a small blue pebble in the shape of a heart. Toby smiles at my reaction, but he seems a little nervous. He grabs the box and put it back to the bedside table while he holds the ring. I finally realize what's going on.

"Ever since we reunited last year, I have known that you are the one I'd want to spend the rest of my life with. You are the most important person to me and I'm so glad that you're here in my arms, where you belong. This ring belonged to my mother and before she died, she gave it to me and said that I shall give this to the girl that steals my heart and I finally found her. So, will you, Spencer Jill Hastings, do the honor of becoming my wife?" He was out of breath by the time he finished his speech. I started at him with amazement before I realized that I had to answer to his question.

"How could I say no?" I replied and his face broke into a huge smile and he took my delicate hand in his and placed the ring there. It fit perfectly, like it was meant for me. Right now, I wasn't thinking about the danger we had put ourselves into or the fact that I had just been shot. All I could think about was that Toby was here and we were okay. And we were gonna get married. I couldn't be happier.

**What did you think? Were you surprised that Mrs. DiLaurentis was the person that showed up at the hospital? What did you think of the spoby cute scene? I honestly love writing this because even thought I love writing angst, romance is also good. Can I say about seven reviews?**


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